Overview of the mandate

Having access to safe drinking water and sanitation is central to living a life in dignity and upholding human rights. Yet billions of people still do not enjoy these fundamental rights.

The rights to water and sanitation require that these are available, accessible, safe, acceptable and affordable for all without discrimination. These elements are clearly interrelated. While access to water may be guaranteed in theory, in reality, if it is too expensive, people do not have access. Women will not use sanitation facilities which are not maintained or are not sex segregated. Having a tap which delivers unsafe water does not improve one’s access. Human rights demand a holistic understanding of access to water and sanitation.

The rights to water and sanitation further require an explicit focus on the most disadvantaged and marginalized, as well as an emphasis on participation, empowerment, accountability and transparency.

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation was initially established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2008 as the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. In 2014, the Human Rights Council appointed Mr. Léo Heller as the second Special Rapporteur. As Special Rapporteur,
Mr. Léo Heller carries out thematic research, undertakes country missions, collects good practices, and works with development practitioners on the implementation of the rights to water and sanitation. Work on the rights to water and sanitation has been ongoing in the United Nations, among civil society, and at the national level for many years prior to the establishment of this mandate

History of the Rights to Water and Sanitation at the United Nations

In 2002, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted
General Comment 15 on the right to water. This General Comment explains that the right to water is considered implicit in Articles 11 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights covering the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to health respectively.

In 2006, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights built on the work of the Committee, adopting the
Guidelines for the Realization of the Right to Drinking Water and Sanitation. Continuing this momentum, in September 2007, the former High Commissioner for Human Rights presented a
study to the Human Rights Council on the scope and content of the relevant human rights obligations related to equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation under international human rights instruments. For further information on the process for preparing that study, please.

In the study, the former High Commissioner expressed her belief “that it is now time to consider access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right, defined as the right to equal and non-discriminatory access to a sufficient amount of safe drinking water for personal and domestic uses - drinking, personal sanitation, washing of clothes, food preparation and personal and household hygiene - to sustain life and health”.

In July 2010, the General Assembly adopted a resolution, which “recognized the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights” (GA res 64/292). Subsequently, the Human Rights Council, in September 2010, affirmed this recognition and clarified that the right is derived from the right to an adequate standard of living (HRC res 15/9). Taking into account these developments, the Human Rights Council, in March 2011, extended the mandate on water and sanitation, and changed its title to Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation (HRC res 16/2)